Days after LeBron James Jr. collapsed during a practice at the University of Southern California’s Galen Center, his father, LeBron James, said on social media on Thursday that his family was “together, safe and healthy.” He added, in a signal of the family’s optimism and relief, that LeBron was back in the gym working out with another young basketball star.
LeBron James offered no specifics about the condition of his eldest son, known as Bronny, saying only that “everyone is doing great.”
Bronny James, who was recruited to join the U.S.C. basketball team in the fall, suffered a cardiac arrest on Monday while working out at the Galen Center. After treatment in the intensive care unit, he was in stable condition, his family said in a statement.
The young star who LeBron James worked out with on Thursday was AJ Dybantsa, the highly touted 16-year-old from Brockton, Mass., who was in Los Angeles with his father to meet with agents, including representatives from James’s agency, Klutch Sports.
The workout with Dybantsa had been scheduled for Wednesday before being postponed after Bronny, 18, collapsed during a practice. Bronny was treated by U.S.C. medical staff and then taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
“I felt for the man,” Ace Dybantsa, AJ’s father and a Boston University police officer, said of LeBron James by phone following his son’s hourlong workout. “After what he’s been through, he showed up, put on a good face and worked with the kid. I had chills, man.”
For AJ Dybantsa, a 6-foot-8 forward who has transferred to Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif., from St. Sebastian’s in Needham, Mass., the workout was the latest in a series with N.B.A. superstars.
When asked what it meant that James showed up after what happened to Bronny, AJ Dybantsa said, “he cares.”
He continued, “Didn’t know what was going to happen to his son, but even though it took him an extra day, he still showed up and worked out.”
Bronny James and his family also received well wishes from Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann. In September 2022, during Bronny’s senior year at Sierra Canyon School in Los Angeles, Bronny and his father visited Ohio State for a football game against Notre Dame. The fans chanted, “We want Bronny.”
Ohio State was the school that LeBron, an Ohio native, had said he likely would have attended had he gone to college rather than jumping straight to the N.B.A. as the No. 1 overall pick in 2003.
Holtmann said that he and his staff had been genuinely interested in landing Bronny.
“It was a situation where we just were really open about making sure it fit what they were looking for and vice versa,” Holtmann said by phone on Wednesday. “We knew it was going to be an experience where he may not be in college very long, so you want that experience to be a great one.”
Bronny James would be eligible for the N.B.A. draft after his freshman year; there has been speculation that he will jump to the N.B.A. in 2024, when LeBron will be 40.
As a senior at Sierra Canyon, Bronny averaged 14 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 steals. He was named to the McDonald’s All-American game in March, where he scored 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the perimeter while adding 4 assists and 2 steals.
The U.S.C. men’s basketball team is scheduled to leave for a 10-day exhibition tour to Greece and Croatia on Aug. 5, but it remains unclear if the team will still travel, or if Bronny will make the trip.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
